Entertainment
China hits US defence firms with sanctions over arms sales to Taiwan
- Sanctioned execs, including Anduril founder, banned from entering China.
- Targets include Northrop Grumman, L3Harris, Boeing’s defence branch.
- China calls Taiwan “core interest”; US reaffirms support for its defence.
China’s foreign ministry announced sanctions on Friday targeting 10 individuals and 20 US defence firms, including Boeing’s St Louis branch, over arms sales to Taiwan.
A spokesperson for the US State Department said the United States strongly objected to the Chinese move, which freezes any assets the companies and individuals hold in China and bars domestic organisations and individuals from doing business with them.
Individuals on the Chinese list, including the founder of defence firm Anduril Industries and nine senior executives from the sanctioned firms, are also banned from entering China, it added.
Other companies targeted include Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation and L3Harris Maritime Services, and Boeing’s St Louis branch, which focuses on defence work.
The Chinese action appears largely symbolic, given China’s lack of dealings with US defence firms, whereas it has been a major purchaser of Boeing civilian aircraft.
The move follows Washington’s announcement last week of $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, the largest ever US weapons package for the island, drawing Beijing’s ire.
“The Taiwan issue is the core of China’s core interests and the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-US relations,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.
“Any provocative actions that cross the line on the Taiwan issue will be met with a strong response from China,” the statement said, urging the US to cease “dangerous” efforts to arm the island.
China views democratically-governed Taiwan as part of its own territory, a claim Taipei rejects.
The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, though such arms sales are a persistent source of friction with China.
The State Department spokesperson said this policy had “remained consistent across nine different US administrations and contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
“We strongly object to Beijing’s efforts to retaliate against US companies for their support of US arms sales that support Taiwan’s self-defence capabilities,” the spokesperson said, while urging Beijing to cease military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taipei.
Boeing has been in talks to sell Chinese carriers up to 500 civilian jets, according to a report in September, which would represent a breakthrough for the company in the world’s second-largest aviation market, where orders have stalled amid US-China trade tensions.
Entertainment
‘Harry Potter’ movie star Bonnie Wright expecting second baby
Bonnie Wright, the actress famously known for playing Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter film franchise, has revealed she is expecting her second baby.
The 35-year-old star shared the happy news with her followers on Sunday, 5 April, through a heartwarming post on Instagram.
Wright, who appeared in all eight movies of the wizarding series, confirmed that her “second little earthling” will be joining the family this autumn.
The announcement was with two sweet photos of the mother sitting on a couch with her two-year-old son, Elio Ocean Wright Lococo.
In the snaps, Wright is seen displaying her baby bump, with one particularly touching shot showing her looking down at her son while he faces her stomach.
She captioned the post, “Two babies on my lap, our second little earthling joining us this autumn,” shortly after teasing a “very special” update on her Instagram Stories with a waterside selfie.
Support from the Harry Potter family came quickly, with co-star Evanna Lynch, who played Luna Lovegood, among the first to offer her congratulations in the comments.
Wright and her husband, Andrew Lococo, originally met in 2020 and tied the knot in March 2022.
Their first child, Elio, was born in September 2023.
Entertainment
Olivia Munn urges fans for ‘early’ cancer checkup
Olivia Munn has spoken movingly about her Your Friends & Neighbors costar Amanda Peet’s breast cancer diagnosis, urging fans to get checked early after Peet’s own experience showed just how much timing can matter.
Speaking to PEOPLE while promoting season two of their Apple TV+ series, Munn, 45, herself a breast cancer survivor, having been diagnosed in 2023, said she was relieved when Peet confided in her last year.
“She told me last year that she was diagnosed, and I was so relieved she found it at such an early, early stage,” she said.
“She found it at almost the earliest you can find it. She really was given a gift of finding it so early that she doesn’t have to do all the treatment and all the stuff you have to do for years and years to come.”
She was clear about what Peet’s experience represents for others.
“She’s incredibly lucky, and it’s another reminder that early detection saves lives.”
Peet, 54, revealed her diagnosis publicly for the first time in a deeply personal essay for The New Yorker on 21 March, having kept it private since 2025.
The piece described an almost unimaginably difficult period in her life, receiving her cancer diagnosis while both of her parents were simultaneously in hospice care on opposite coasts.
When her sister called to say their father was about to die, Peet flew to New York but didn’t make it in time.
“I didn’t make it before my father took his last breath, but I got to see his body before it was taken from his apartment,” she wrote.
“As soon as my dad’s corpse was out of sight, I was free to panic about my cancer again.”
Peet received her first clear scan in January. Days later, her mother, who had Parkinson’s disease, died in the hospice with her daughter by her side.
In Your Friends & Neighbors, Peet plays therapist Mel Cooper and Munn plays her friend and neighbour Sam Levitt.
New episodes are streaming now on Apple TV+.
Entertainment
Actress Tori Spelling hospitalized after Southern California crash; authorities investigating cause
Actress Tori Spelling was involved in a two-car crash in southern Riverside County, about 80 miles from Los Angeles, on Thursday evening, her manager has confirmed with CBS LA.
It happened at around 5:45 p.m. local itme near the 28000 block of Rancho California Road in Temecula, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, who confirmed the incident based on reports from other news outlets. They said that deputies arrived and found both cars with collision damage.
Deputies said that all of the occupants of both vehicles were medically evaluated at the scene, but did not report any hospitalizations from the collision.
Spelling’s manager, however, said that she and four of her children were taken to the hospital in three separate ambulances for various injuries sustained in the crash.
“No arrests were made, and the cause of the collision remains under investigation,” Riverside County deputies said.
Spelling is most known for her roles in “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Scary Movie 2,” as well as “Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood,” her reality television show with former husband Dean McDermott. Along with her extensive acting history, Spelling is also known for her six memoirs, one of which was a New York Times bestseller.
A Los Angeles native, Spelling is the daughter of former Hollywood producer Aaron Spelling and author Candy Spelling.
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